Casing whipstock



May 9, 1950 H. G. LIVINGSTON 2,506,799

CASING WHIPSTOCK Filed Jan. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Herma/2 fri/@Stomlv INVENTOR.

Patented May 9, 1950 UNITED STATESy PATENT (l-FFICIEIr CASING WHIPSTOCKHerman G. Livingston; Houston, Tex.,v assignor, v by direct and mesne;assignments, to Eastman Oil Well Survey Company, Dallas, Tex., and',Denvfer, Colo., acorporation of Delaware.

Application J anuaryZZ, 1945,SerialNo. 573,865V

12 Claims. (Cl. Z55-1.6)

1V, This invention relates tonew and'I useful' improvements in casingWhipstocksl.

As is well known` acasingwhipstock is adaptedto be set within a. wellvcasing .or pipe and is uti lized to. deflect or guidea drill-'bitoutwardly into the formation at. an angle from-the main vwell bore.Prior to any offset. drillingoperation from a cased well/bore it isfirst.- necessary to out or mill. a window or opening in the` casingimmediately. opposite thewhipstock face. to provide an open..

ing through which the. drill. maysubsequently. pass outwardly intotherformation.. Milling tools.v

for performing-this milling operation are ingen eral useandisuccessfully cut the rst half or upper portion of the window;however, when ther center: line oi the milling tool reaches the centerline of,

the wall oi the casing, there is a tendency for thek milling tool tojump out'intorthe formation beyond the oasingsince-said tool willnaturallyV follow the line of least resistance. In-'other words.

as soon as the opening in the casing is-sufciently large to permitpassage-oi themillingitool therethrough, said tool will moveoutfintorthe forma. tion instead `of continuing the milling oi said`window. This results in kthewindowf-or opening,l being incomplete, thatis,` said window does not extend the full length of the longitudinaldeflect-w ing face of `the whipstock, whereby' subsequent. attempts toproperly drill off of the-whipstock.

are interfered with.

It is one object offthisinvention toV provide an improved casingWhipstock whiohis so constructed that a lsatisfactory elongatel windowlor.'` opening may be cut in the well casing after said'.

v/hipstock has been ysettherein.

An important object of the inventionxis to provide an improvedcasingwhipstock adapted to be set within a, welllcasing and havingitsde-y lil fleeting surface movable longitudinally withinV said casingafter the device is. ina set position,

manipulated to assure milling of a window which extends substantiallythroughout the lengthen.

the deflecting surface ofV said, whipstock.

Another object of the'inventionis tor provide an improved casingwhipstock havinga .body

portion arrangedto be set' withinthe well cas.

-40 whereby said deflecting-surface .may be properly'.

ing and havingv a deilectingfelement attached` to and movable relativeto saidloody,` whereby .when

the device is in a set position,1the delecting .ele' ment may oe in aloweredposition anda .window-f or opening; opposite the-,upper half'othe'defleeting. element may be milled; the construction; permittingraising of .the deecting. element after z' said. opening is milled,whereby saidyelement .is

moved into apposition locating the lower poI-,A tion of said deectingelement oppositesad` previously formedfopening to permit a subsequentvmilling Loperation to be .successfully-v carried out to complete awindow or opening extending throughout thev entire length of thedeflecting element.

Still another object -of the inventionl is to provide an improved casingWhipstock, of the character described, lwherein the dei'lectingelementis-,arrangedato ,be locked in a, raised or lifted posi.- l

tion; Wherebyzafter. the; milling; operation fis -complete,saidgdeflecting elementgprovides a rigid surface for guiding the,subsequent drilling operation.

A still furtherxobjectoftheinvention is to.

provide an. improved casing whipstock, of the character described,having an improved4 lifting tool whichisarrangedto co-act withsaidwhipstocl; to. eiectfliitingior raising Aoi the deflecting element' ofsaid 'Whipstocki after theinitial millingoperation isvcompleted;` said,lifting tool permitting manipulation of thedeecting element with-v outremoval. .ofv the whipstock from its set position.

The constructionfdesigned to carry out the invention will be lhereinafter described together with other.y features of the. invention.

The invention willv bemorereadily understood ironia reading of thefollowing specification and by reference tov the. accompanying drawing,wherein an example-oiA the inventionV isv shown, and wherein:

Figurer-.1 is "a View partly insection and partly VVin. elevation. andillustrating a casing whipstock,

constructed in accordanoefwith the invention and set within. awellcasing,V

Figure 2is a similarfview showing the rst millt imgoperation'Whichiiforms aV portion of the window in the well casing,v

Figuref-is anenlarged, horizontal, sectional. `view takenonthelineii--tlA of.V Figure 5,

Figure 9 is a partial isometric view of the latching means for lockingthe deecting element of the whipstock in a raised position,

Figure 10 is a longitudinal, sectional View of the lifting tool which isutilized to raise the deflecting element of the whipstock,

Figure 11 is an enlarged, horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on theline I I I of Figure 10,

Figure 12 is a sectional detail illustrating the lifting arm of thelifting tool in a retracted or disengaged position, and,

Figure 13 is an isometric view of the lifting arm and its connectionwith the operating rod.

In the drawings the numeral I designates a well casing which extendsthrough a well bore in the usual manner. A casing whipstock A isarranged to be lowered through the well casing and set at a desiredposition therein and when so set will serve to guide tools which aremoved downwardly through the bore into engagement with the whipstockoutwardly at an angle from the main well bore in the usual manner. Thewhipstock includes a body II which may be of any desired construction.The particular body illustrated is one now in general use and said bodyincludes outwardly movable locking pins l2 which are arranged to beforced into engagement with the casing to lock the body in positiontherein. Outward movement of the pins is effected by a tapered mandrelI3 which has its upper end secured to a pressure-actuated piston I4, thelatter being actuated by pumping pressure fluid downwardly through thecasing. As noted, this type of casing whipstock body together with theparticular locking arrangement forms no part of the present inventionand any suitable body having means for locking the whipstock within thecasing may be employed.

It has been the usual practice to attach a deecting element which ismerely a wedge shaped member to the whipstock body II by a pivotalconnection and in such case the deecting member and body portioncomprise a single unit with said deecting element capable of a limitedswinging movement with respect to the body.

In carrying out the present invention an elongate shank or extension Ihas its lower end threaded or otherwise fastened to the upper end of thebody II and this shank is in axial alignment with said body and projectsupwardly therefrom. The shank is provided with an axial bore I6 topermit fluid pressure to pass downwardly to the whipstock body toactuate the locking pins. If pressure-actuated locking pins are notemployed, the shank could be solid in cross-section. An enlargedcircular head |'I is made integral with the upper end of said shank, asis clearly shown in Figures 5 and 6 and the provision of said head I'Iforms an annular shoulder I8 at the intersection of the shank and head.

A wedge shaped deflecting element I9, having an inclined guide surface20 which tapers to substantially a point at its upper end, is providedwith an elongate tubular body or sleeve 2| which is connected thereto bya pivotal connection I9a. As is clearly shown in Figures 5 and 6 thesleeve 2| has a bore 22 within which the head I'I of the shank I5 isslidable. The extreme lower end of the bore 22 of the sleeve is reducedas shown at 23, whereby an internal annular shoulder 24 is formed withinsaid sleeve and the reduced portion 23 of the bore 22 is square incross-section so as to substantially lit the square external surface ofthe shank I5. As explained, the head I'l has a sliding nt within thebore 22 of the sleeve 2| and said head is provided with an annularpacking ring 25 which is located near its upper end, said packingsealing off between the head and the bore 22. The upper end of thesleeve bore 22 is closed except for a port or opening 26 which registerswith the axial bore I6 of the shank.

Normally the delecting element I3 has its sleeve 2| are in a loweredposition with respect to the body portion I I of the whipstock, as shownin Figure 5 and the parts are held in this position by means of a shearpin 21 which extends through the lower portion of the sleeve and whichhas its inner end connected to the shank i5. When upward pull is exertedupon the deecting member I9, upward movement of the body portion of thewhipstock I I is prevented by the locking pins I2 which are engaged withthe casing l0, whereby such upward pull will shear the pin 2'I. Whenthis occurs a continued lifting of the deilecting member |9 will causethe sleeve to slide upwardly on the shank I5 until the internal shoulder24 within the lower end of the sleeve strikes the external shoulder I8formed by the underside of the enlarged head I1 (Figure 6).

For latching the sleeve 2| and the deilecting element connectedtherewith in a raised or lifted position with respect to the body of thewhipstock, the head Il has a spring-pressed latch member 28 pivotallymounted on a, pin 29. As is clearly shown in Figures 7 to 9 the latch 28is arcuate in shape and is normally disposed within an arcuate recess3E] formed in the head I1. A flat spring 3| constantly urges the latchmember outwardly so that said latch member engages the wall of the bore22 of the sleeve 2 I. As the sleeve 2| is lifted after shearing of thepin 27 and said sleeve moves into the position shown in Figure 6, anarcuate slot 2 Ia which extends through the wall of the sleeve 2| nearits lower end moves opposite the spring-pressed latch 28 so that saidlatch swings outwardly into this slot (Figure 7) It is apparent thatwhen the latch is engaged within the slot 2 |a that further movement ofthe sleeve 2| with respect to the shank I5 is prevented. Thus, thedeecting element |9 and its sleeve 2| will be locked or latched in araised position with respect to the body portion II of the whipstock, asis clearly shown in Figures 3, 4 and 6.

For effecting a lifting or raising of the deilccting element I9 to itsupper position, a suitable lifting tool which is shown in Figures l0 to13 is provided. This tool includes an elongate body 32 which isgenerally tapered so that it may be lowered into the Well casing I in aposition opposite the inclined guide surface 20 of the deflectingelement I9. The body has a longitudinally extending surface 32a whichconforms to the contour of the inclined surface 2B of the deectingelement I9 so as to fit against said surface (Figure 1l) and it is thesecomplementary surfaces which co-act to orient the body with respect tothe deflecting element when said body is lowered into position adjacentsaid element. The body 32 has its upper end connected by a sub 33 to atubular drill pipe 34 which is utilized to lower said body intoposition. The upper portion of the body 32 is drilled out to form acylinder 35 and the diameter of this cylinder is substantially the sameas the diameter of the boi'e of the sub 33 and is slightly larger thanthe bore of the drill pipe 34. Below the cylinder 35 an axial reducedbore 36 is provided and this bore extends from the lower end of thecylinder to a transversely extending slot 31. which. as. shown,ingFigure; 1Q is:l cut transversely through the mais: body- 3.2.-

Aff piston 38- isl .Slidablewithiu the Cylinder 35 andhas a piston rod39. projecting. downwardly therefrom and through the reduced; bore S6 ofthe body 32 and the lower end of saidorodextends into thetransv-erseslot 3fIIj.v A.c o.il springvil nor-.- mollyuijges the piston 3 3v to a.raised position. within itscylinder. 3.5J The.j lower end; of therod 3.9isr arranged. to actuate a lifting arlmJI whichl arm has one end pivote@n e. Pin.- 42 which iS mountedin the body.. 'Ifhe lower endI ot. therod3,9 is pivoted to the. upper end of a link 4.3. by a pin 4E. rlhe lowerportionofjthelink.. extends into aflongitudinal slot 45 formed in theupper end of the, actuatingarmAI. (Figur-cl3.) Afcongnesting pin 46.extends.. transversely through. the lower end` of theconnecting., link43. and hasits ends engaged. in longtudinalislots aIlg'provided in the`side` wallsl of. the. lifting arm LI. With this arrangement it will'. beapparent that vertical. 0.1'. longitudinal reciprocation. offthe, rodYSi 9 .will-.result in aswingingof thelitingarm Il I` orritspivot 42.

As explainedv theL pstonf38j is normally in. a raised position. beingheldfsoby thespring 110 and in this positionthe lifting armfil isin aretracted positionas sho'wn'in. Figure 1 2. The liftingtool, assembly.is. loweredinto the...vell casing I0 with the parts in such position andthebody 32 of said. assembly willmoveinto. apcsitionwiththetransversejslot. 3l alignedwitha transverse slot, or opening 48 which isformed in the. deflecting member I9, Proper orientationror positioningof the slot 31, in the body 32 with theslot d8 in the elementiseffectediby the co-actingsurfaces 32d of the. body and thev surface 2Softhe element. As illustrated in, Figure l0, the upper wallie ofthesl'ot or opening d8. is substantially flat. When the lifting toolfassembly moves into. a position aligning the slot 3,1 in the body32.with. the slot or openingV 48' in the deflecting member,A a pressurefluid is pumpedv downwardly through the drill pipe 34 and this pressureis exerted against the piston` 38 to move said' piston tov ar loweredjposition; such downward movement will',4 of course, be against theVtension vof the coi-l spring 40. As the piston 38 .moves'downwardlytherod 39 is also moved downwardly wherebythelink 4.3; because of itsparticular connection with the lifting arm tI willcause a swinging ofsaid arm to an extended or lowered position. rhis causes the end of thearm to swing inwardly into the slot oropening Sfof the deflecting;element le. It will be obviousthat subsequent liftingrof the assemblyvand body 32o while maintaining theY piston 38 in its loweredY position'Will-result inv the lifting arm @l engaging the flatv upper Wall- 119 ofthe slot llt and thereby lift' the deflecting member` I9. It is throughthe use of the lifting tool assemblythat anupward force is vexerted onthe deilecting element IS sufficient to shear theV connecting pin 21after the in issheared it is apparent that the lifting tool assemblywill raise the sleeve 2 I} and the element I9 to its raised positionA sothat the spring pressed latch Y2- 8`j may lock saidv sleeve in suchraised position.

In the operation of the apparatus it has-been pointed out thatdifficulty is at present encountered in attempting to mill a window'oropening within a well casing when an angular drilling operationis tobecarried-outin a casedwellbore. The particular apparatus hereinbeforedescribed is arranged to make possible themilling of a win.- dow oropening in the. well casing which extends substantially throughout the,length oftheqguido surface ofthe. deecting member t9...

11nusnathe essere/tus). the whip.Steele which iionsietf:l Ot thebedysofi/ico Hy andthedeeiine element. t9.; with. its; Pivotally le12tfi11ii Sleeved! is. lowered Withinthe wel1` casing. and. Set therein .bymoving the-locking pins l-Zeutwardlr into. eIles/sermentI with; thecasing; through.. the application. of` fluid` pressure. Atthis time thedeecting elementy L9. and its sleeveis in. a ylowered position. withrespect to the. body H.. beine; se.- curedin; such positionbyithe-shear-pin 2 1. After thetdevice issetjwithin'the well casingIllaI suitable milling toolgf is lowered withinv the casing on arotatable drill. pipe. 5I. The milling tool strikes the,z incline/dfguide surface 2U. of the de: fleeting. element and .guided outwardlyinto contact .with the. wall; ofthe well casina the drill pipe isrotated to rotate;r the mill'. an.l open?.-l ing-, indicated at B inFigureI 2, will be formedzby the milling tool. Asn explained themillingtoolwill.v operate satisfactorily until the center line of said toolmoves past the. center of the wallthickness ofV thewell. casing and whenthis occurs the millwill tendto move. out into the forma.-v tion becausevsaid formation will form less resistance to itsmovement than will themetallic wall of the casing. Thusit has been-found; that-when the mill50 reaches the-position shown in dotted; lines inFieure 2 ,furthermilling.- Of en. Opening'- cannot be accomplished. It is apparent thatan opening of the size indicated at B` in Figure. 2 would not besulcientto;A permit y free` movement of aA drill bit outwardly into theformation be.-

- cause-theA lower edge B ofi said; open-ingle a considerable distanceabove the, base or` lower end of the guide4 surface,y 20- ofv the,deflecting; element. It is obviousthat the.- drilljbit would hang on thelipioimedl by that portion` ofthe casingextend ngfupwardly abovethebasei of the` guide, surface.

After vthe initial opening Bois formed, the millsuena the @mi 'pipe 57|are removed from the Well casing I0 and the lifting tool assembly shownin Figure 10. isf-lowered through the casing. This assembly ismoveddownwardly with the lifting arm 4I in aretracted position (Figure. 12v)until theslot 311 in the body 32 is. alignedwith theslot 43y in thedeflecting member I9. Whenthis position is reached a pressurefluid is`pumped downs wardly through the pipe-34; on which the body 32 is loweredand a pressure is applied to the piston 38 to move-saidlpistondownwardly. As has been described the` downward movement of` thepiston 3.8 will swing the lifting arm III outwardly into the opening orslot 48v in the deflecting member. Theolifting tool assembly is then.raised so asftor engagefthe. arm 4I withtheilat upper wall 4.9. of

V thenslot 48 and continuedupward movement of the lifting tool assemblywill result inexertingan upward pull on the deecting member I9 and itssleeve 2|. Suchfupward pull will shear the pin 21 whereby continuedupward movement will slide the sleeve upwardly onthe shank I5 which.isattached to thebodyportion II of the whipstock..

As-.the sleeve-.2| moves to its raised. position the springy pressedlatch 28 will engage or swing out,- wardly intothe arcuate slot. 3lformed in the. wall of the sleeve whereby'the, sleeve-2 Iv and deectingmember I9 are. locked ina raised position. The length. of upward travelof the sleeve. 2l is determined byy the length. of the shank I5 and issuchras to locate the lowerv end of the, guidev surfacek 20 of .thedeflecting member oppositethe lowerfend of the-openingB which waspreviously. formed by the rst milling operation. Thisposi tion o,f.the.device is clearlyillustratedinlligure 3.

After the deecting element is Y moved to a raised position the mill 50is again lowered into the well casing l and as it strikes the upper endof the deilecting member it is moved outwardly into engagement with thecasing to mill out an additional portion of said casing. It will beobvious that by means of the two milling operations an enlarged windowor opening C which extends throughout the major portion of the guidesurface is formed. This window will permit the free passage of a drillbit upon a subsequent drilling operation. The particular advantage ofthe opening or window C is that its lower end is in alignment with orslightly below the base of the guide surface 20 whereby there is noobstruction to the passage of the bit from said guide surface into theformation.

The apparatus is relatively simple in construction and involves the useof a deflecting member which is capable of an axial movement withrespect to the body of the whipstock so that said element may undergomovement after the body is in a set or locked position within the wellcasing. By use of the movable deecting element it is possible to mill aportion of the window and then raise the element into a position so thatits base is aligned with the bottom of that portion of the window whichis milled on the first milling operation. The window is then completedby a second milling operation which cuts out an additional portion ofthe casing. As has been stated no diniculty is encountered in milling asection from the well casing provided that the center line of the millmay be held inside of the center line of the wall of the well casing.Thus, it might be said that under normal and usual practices the upperportion of a window, that is, a window opposite the upper portion of awliipstock can be readily formed and through the use of the presentapparatus the milling all takes place opposite such upper portion of thedeecting member. The particular lifting tool which is illustrated hasbeen found satisfactory but it is apparent that other types of liftingdevices could be employed to raise the denecting member to its lockedposition after the initial milling operation. Therefore, the inventionis not to be limited to the specic construction of the lifting toolwhich has been shown.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A casing whipstock for use with a milling tool to permit said tool tomake two contiguous openings in the casing including, a support havingmeans for anchoring the same within a well casing, a deilecting elementhaving an inclined guide surface mounted on the support and movableaxially thereof to an extremerlower position for one milling operationand an extreme upper position relative to said support for a secondmilling operation, said element being normally in its lower position onsaid support, and co-acting means on said element and said supportassuming operable engageable condition when the element is movedupwardly to its upper position to secure said element in such upperposition to positively prevent subsequent lowering of said element withrespect to the support.

2. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 1,

8 together with additional co-acting stop means on the support and onsaid element for limiting movement of said element with respect to saidsupport to locate the upper and lower positions of said element on thesupport.

3. A casing whipstocl: as set forth in claim 1, together with frangiblemeans connecting the deecting element to the support in its normallylower position, said frangible means being adapted to be fractured by anupward pull on the deflecting element to permit movement of the elementto its upper position, and also wherein the coacting means on saidelement and said support is a spring-actuated latch mechanism.

4. A casing whipstock including, a support, means for anchoring thesupport within a well casing, an upstanding shank extending axially fromthe support, a dei'lecting element having its lower portion slidable onthe shank, said element being normally in a lowered position on saidshank and being movable to a raised position whereby said element isspaced from the support.

5. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 4, together with frangiblemeans for fastening the element in a lowered position, said means beingfractured by an upward pull on the element to permit raising of saidelement, and means for locking said element in its raised position.

6. A casing whipstock including, a body portion having means foranchoring the same within a well pipe, a deflecting member above thebody and having a telescoping connection with said body portion, saidmember being normally in a lowered position supported on said bodyportion, whereby a deecting operation off of the deecting member may beaccomplished with said member in its lowered position, the telescopingconnection permitting the deflecting member to be raised with respect tothe body portion to locate said member at a higher elevation andco-acting means carried by the body and member and capable of beingbrought into co-acting relationship when the member is raised to itshigher elevation and thereby secure the member to the body and hold itin said higher elevation, whereby a subsequent deflecting operation maybe carried out at said higher elevation.

'7. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 6, together with afrangible means for connecting.' the deflecting member to the bodyportion with said member in its lowered position, fracturing of saidfrangible means being necessary to allow movement of the member to itsraised position.

8. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 6, wherein the co-actingmeans is a spring-pressed latch means for locking the deecting member inits raised position with respect to the body p0rtion.

9. A casing whipstock including, a body having means for anchoring thesame within a well pipe, an upstanding shank on said body, a delectingmember, a tubular extension on the lower portion of said member engagingover and being slidable on the shank, the member being normally in alowered position with the lower end of the extension being supported onthe upper end of the body, and latching means on the upper end of theshank adapted to co-act with means on said extension for latching theextension and deflecting member in a raised position when said extensionand member are moved upwardly with respect to the body.

10. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 9, wherein the co-actinglatching means on said shank and said extension is a pivoted latch on 9one element and an opening for receiving said latch on the otherelement.

11. A casing whipstock as set forth in claim 9, together with frangiblemeans connecting the eX- tension and shank when said extension anddeecting member are in their lowered position on the body, saidfrangible means being fractured by an upward pull lon said defiectingmember to allow subsequent upward movement of the member with relationto the body.

12. A casing Whipstock including, a body having means for anchoring thesame Within a Well pipe, an upstanding shank on said body, a deflectingmember, a tubular extension on the lower portion of said member engagingover and being slidable on the shank, the member being normally in alowered position with the lower end of the extension being supported onthe upper end of the body, a pivoted latch member mounted in the upperend of the shank and movable outwardly thereof, resilient means engagingthe latch member and constantly urging said member into contact with theinner wall of the extension, the lower end of the extension having anopening therein which opening moves into alignment with and receives thelatching member when the extension is moved upwardly on the shank,whereby said extension is latched to the shank in its raised position.

HERMAN G. LIVINGSTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

